About uThinkology

My past is as varied as my present. I rode my first motorcycle before the age of 8 and haven’t stopped since. My family moved on average every 3 years (including one move to Europe when I was 6), creating a pattern in me that I seem to have kept. I pursued a career in music as a writer and performer that began in the 80s when I was a teen and carried me into the early 90s. To pay the bills during those years I worked as a cook in several restaurants, taking my culinary background from the coast of NJ to Hollywood California, making everything from burgers and fries at Denny’s to lobster bisque at Papagallo’s, a four-star Italian restaurant in Pasadena, California.

Unfortunately drugs, alcohol, immorality and violence vividly marked this dark period as I tried to deal with the insanity of life in my own strength. After nearly being killed on a few occasions, and almost killing someone else just as many times in fits of rage and substance abuse, God was beginning to get my attention. Finally, my heart caved in and I cried out for God to change me. And He did. It was in late 1991. I then withdrew from my pursuit in music and started to seek a church, eventually landing at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge, NJ. By 1993, a missions trip had landed me in Yugoslavia during the waning of its civil war. It was there that I met my wife, whom I married in 1995.

In 1997 we moved to the USA where I became the Missions Pastor at the same church I had left for missions work. In 2001 we changed continents once again, this time for the province of Treviso in north-eastern Italy. The Lord gave us the privilege to plant and pastor Calvary Chapel Treviso until June of 2013, at which time we turned over the church and moved to California to join the wonderful faculty of Calvary Chapel Bible College. We’ve been here since, serving the Lord and his people, raising our children and growing in the Lord as He continues “raising” us.

uThinkology came to life in the recent years as a result both of my undergraduate program for BTh with SATS (completed in early 2014), and of my inate love for writing. I’m enrolled again as a student fora a MTh with Veritas Evangelical Seminary, but currently am on break due partly to financial limitations. Mostly time constraints are holding me as I am also in the midst of a book project. While I love to write in general, I am especially passionate about writing in the scope of Christianity and the place it holds in the arena of world-views.

As a believer, I obviously hold to a biblical worldview and am convinced there are good reasons for it. But this does not mean I am closed to or intolerantof (now there’s a buzzword) the views of others that disagree with me. I’m not a cookie-cutter Christian as you will discern from the posts at uThinkology, and I am seldom content to stay in my bubble. The way I am wired it is just about impossible for me not to intentionally subject myself and my beliefs to the scrutiny of critical thinking. Sometimes this takes place when debating on forums with well-informed atheists and skeptics who have done their homework. But also, and probably most often, it happens under the heated lights of my own restless and curious mind.

I’m often forming and challenging my views according to my personal inquiry in the Scriptures, science, history, logic and reason. All truth is God’s truth, so when I find something wrong with what I believe, I cannot simply step over it or kick it aside and move on just so the system can appear to run smoothly. Truth does not always come neat and clean in a theological wrapping, at times it means knocking down the walls to get at the foundation. You may find me doing that very thing in one of the posts here at uThinkology. It’s only right that I admit when something is off and thereafter align myself accordingly, whether it be a doctrine or a practice. For me, refusing to derail an empty train that must be stopped, just to avoid the hassle of a cleanup, is the worst kind of betrayal. First of all to God who knows my thoughts anyway, secondly to myself. And finally, to those around me. Conclusions should not rest ‘happily ever after’ merely because someone else “said so.” To be passionate about what I believe, it has to well up from the depth of my soul.

uThinkology is fruit of all the above. And it exists because of my conviction that what we think is fundamental to how we live our life, yet often we fail to even realize what it is that we think. Unless, and until, our thoughts are made to stand in the marketplace of ideas. This blog is a place where I seek to do this very thing. I write because I think constantly and because I have the acute sense of obligation to share my thoughts, my inquiries, my discoveries with those who enjoy thinking “out loud” on a theological blog. I also do it with the hope that my transparency will encourage the same in others and that together we can share the joy of the journey and learn from one another. Keep in mind that views shared at uThinkology are still taking shape. Afterall, life is an education that ends the day we die. Or the day we become unteachable, which is just about the same thing.

Most often, you’ll find me talking about matters of faith and reason, the biblical languages, ministry and church life, and theological topics relevant to what I do.

In the end, I have a lot of balls in the air and that means that I am likely to drop a few from time to time…so bear with me. Be sure also to post your questions and comments about anything you find on this blog. I will do my best to maintain the pages here and keep up frequent activity. If you like the type of content you find here at uThinkology, you may want to share it with others or subscribe to it. If you decide later that my writing is dangerous for your health, you can unsubscribe anytime. To get the RSS feed or to receive an email each time a new post is made, just click on the RSS feed link for “Posts” and/or “Comments” or go to the “Subscribe” section in the upper-right sidebar of the site.

All the best to you and yours, and remember, you are what uThink!

Mark Nigro

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11 responses to “About uThinkology”

you never cease to amaze me little brother. Yet another gift the Lord has blessed you with. And to think I thought I was the storyteller in our family. I love the idea of a blog , yet another way for me to personally stay connected and at the same time, stretched and open to what God would have me hear today. It is almost like being able to sit under your teaching in Treviso. I love you and love this blog.

Dear Mark,
Pastor Kevin Hay has asked us to consider opening our house to you and your family when you come to the states. Our family would be honored to have you stay with us for the 6 weeks or so that you will be here. You can catch me on facebook or email me .

Jet Mark, how are you? It’ s been a while since we last met? How the family doing? I really hope you are all right. I ve been thinking about all of you lately and honestly I don’t know y.
I hope to meet you once again one day since you are such wonderful people.
I wish you all the best.
Vincenzo, Francesca, Gaia, Ginevra from Treviso.